Despite a growing awareness of the problems involved in the assessment of parenting competency in individuals with severe mental illness. There are no systematic studies on the determinants of child maltreatment risk in the population. A major aim of this pilot study is to determine initial factors that distinguish mothers who are at high and low risk for child maltreatment in order to facilitate a comprehensive evaluation of the determinants of maltreatment risk in mothers with severe mental illness that will be used to guide assessments and to develop more effective treatments for these vulnerable parents and their children. Existing data will be used to construct a case-control study will be used to compare the maternal functioning of two group of women with severe mental illness. The women are matched on severity of mental illness. The groups include: (1) A High Risk Group of mentally ill mothers (N = 50) who have a history of prior child maltreatment, and (2) a Low Risk Group of mentally ill mothers (N = 50) who have never lost custody of a child. The High Risk group will only include cases where the maltreatment is (a) undisputed by the subject and others; and (b) where there is substantial documentation from prior child welfare records or juvenile court indicating maltreatment. The Low Risk Group will only include case where (a) no prior hotline calls have been made regarding the family; and (b) collateral historians verify no knowledge of maltreatment. The study derives from attachment theory and from an ecological perspective on the determinants of parenting.